Macron Says He Convinced Trump To Stay In Syria ‘For The Long Term’

A day after France joined the United States and Britain in launching unprecedented strikes against regime targets, Macron insisted the intervention was legitimate and urged international powers to now push for a diplomatic solution to the brutal seven-year war.

“We have not declared war on the regime of Bashar al-Assad,” the 40-year-old centrist said at the start of a combative TV interview, stretching nearly three hours, to mark almost a year in office.

Macron - Intervention - President - Signal - Use

But Macron again argued his first major military intervention as president was necessary to send a signal that the use of chemical weapons against civilians would not go unpunished.

Saturday’s strikes targeted three alleged chemical weapons facilities in response to what the West says was a gas attack on the town of Douma that killed dozens of people.

Legitimacy - Case - Macron

“We have full international legitimacy in intervening in this case,” Macron said.

He said the US, France and Britain targeted “extremely precise sites of chemical weapons use” in an operation that went off “perfectly”.

Operation - UN - UN - Resolution - Syria

And he further argued the operation was legitimate despite not being sanctioned by the UN, retorting that under a 2013 UN resolution Syria was supposed to destroy its chemical weapons arsenal.